It is barbarous to tattoo the body. Among civilized men, only low
sailors, who spend their lives at sea, indulge in this barbarism;
and they confine the tattooing to a limited surface, "pricking in"
the figure of an anchor, or a ship.
The nose, lips, teeth, ears, and other parts of the body, are cut or
distorted by some of the savages of Africa.
Wherever we find among men the custom of tattooing, cutting or
distorting the body, we need make no further inquiry,--it is a land
of barbarians.
Undeveloped peoples, in the service of false religions, maltreat
their bodies; and even followers of Christ have immured themselves
in dark cells, and caves, carried the accumulated filth of years,
scrupulously avoiding water, starved themselves, pinched and whipped
themselves, made long journeys on their knees or bellies, made
pilgrimages with peas in their shoes, and kicked, cuffed and
outraged themselves in many other ways.
Among advanced Christian nations, even now we sometimes observe a
lingering reflection of this strange hallucination.
For example, a great many people rather fancy a dyspeptic, ghostly
clergyman, and can hardly bring themselves to listen to a prayer
from a preacher with square shoulders, a big chest, a ruddy face,
and a moustache. The ghost, they seem to think, belongs in some way
to the spirit world; while the beef-eating, jolly fellow is
dreadfully at home in this world.